Chapter 2 The Pain of Two Worlds

The night was dark, and an oppressive silence filled the Lincoln.

Xu Qin clutched the hem of her skirt and finally spoke.

"Brother, what just happened..."

"It's just a ring."

Meng Yanchen stared ahead, tapping his knuckles on the steering wheel. "If it's lost, it's lost."

Xu Qin turned to look at him, "You know exactly what it means to me!"

"It means it's not suitable for you at all."

The car suddenly became silent.

Xu Qin turned her face away and said, "I don't want to argue with you. Just take me back to the apartment."

"Mom and Dad have been waiting for you for three months."

"You haven't been home to see your parents since you got engaged."

Meng Yanchen gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. "They raised you for twenty years, and you're not as good as Song Yan?"

“They forced me to make a choice!”

Xu Qin's voice trembled. "I'm grateful to the Meng family, but I also want my own life... If I had to do it again, I would rather not be the daughter of the Meng family."

Meng Yanchen slammed on the brakes, turned around and approached her, his eyes filled with emotions that had been suppressed for many years.

"Would you rather not be the daughter of the Meng family? I also wish you weren't the daughter of the Meng family, then I would have already -"

"Brother!" Xu Qin interrupted harshly.

The air solidified.

Meng Yanchen took a deep breath, "Qinqin, who prepared the wedding room for you and Song Yan? If my parents really objected strongly, the Meng family would have taken it back long ago. Have you ever thought about them?"

Xu Qin suddenly smiled, her eyes reddened, "Okay, then I'll give it all back to you. Don't ever try to use the Meng family's kindness to kidnap me again!"

She pulled off her bracelet, necklace, and Birkin bag and threw them hard on the passenger seat.

"Is that enough?"

"Bang--"

The car door slammed loudly.

Meng Yanchen stared at Xu Qin's receding figure and suddenly punched the steering wheel.

He glanced at the Birkin bag on the passenger seat and felt only irony.

Some people tried their best to escape from him, while others, even though they lived in rented houses, tried desperately to squeeze into this circle.

[Ode to Joy Room 2202]

Fan Shengmei clutched her phone, her knuckles turning white. The phone call that had just ended made her tremble all over.

"Qu Lianjie, what do you take me for? I drank myself to death to help you get the contract, and you're trying to trick me with a fake bag? If you can't afford it, don't give it to me. Why are you pretending?"

On the other end of the phone, Qu Lianjie sneered, "Pretending? Am I as pretentious as you? It's not that I can't afford it, but first, see if you're worthy of it."

The phone was hung up harshly, and a busy tone was heard.

Fan Shengmei slammed her phone onto the bed.

She covered her face with her hands, the contemptuous looks and whispered ridicule at the party stabbed into her mind like knives.

"Greed girl."

"How dare you bring out a fake one? It's embarrassing."

"He must be trying to hook up with a rich guy."

She bit her lip and tears fell silently.

The phone suddenly rang again.

She took a deep breath and picked up the phone - it was Fan's mother.

"Xiaomei, Leilei's school is about to start, and we're still 30,000 yuan short of tuition. Please call me quickly."

Fan Shengmei's chest tightened and her voice trembled.

"Mom, I just paid off my brother's gambling debt last month. How can I have the money now?"

"You have no conscience!"

My mother suddenly raised her voice and asked, "You're living in Shanghai, decked out in gold and silver, and you don't even pay for your nephew's tuition?"

"But I—"

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Mother Fan interrupted her, "Your brother has had a hard time. As his sister, are you going to watch your nephew unable to even afford to go to school?"

Twenty minutes later, Fan Shengmei looked at the notification that the transfer was successful, tears streaming down her face.

She curled up on the bed, biting her lips tightly, not daring to cry out loud——

This is a shared house. Guan Juer and Qiu Yingying live next door, and she can't let anyone hear her.

The next morning

Fan Shengmei dragged her tired body into the office, only to find a group of people gathered around her workstation, whispering.

"Oh my god, this is so happy!"

"It must be a gift from my boyfriend!"

"Sister Fan, when did you get to know this big shot?"

She pushed through the crowd blankly, her breathing suddenly stagnating.

A limited edition Hermès bag lies quietly on the workstation.

The leather is lustrous and the lock has the luster of real gold. It is limited in quantity worldwide and cannot be bought even if you have money.

There is a small gold-stamped card in the gift box:

"I apologize for any offense I may have caused yesterday. —MYC"